Dubai Leads the Most Reputable City Survey in the Gulf

New York-based global advisory firm declared Dubai, as the most reputable city in the GCC. Globally, Dubai placed as 41st while the capital city of UAE, Abu Dhabi is on the 63rd and the Saudi holy city of Makkah ranked 86th among the 100 cities included. Between January and February 2013, The Reputation Institute’s rankings surveyed 22,000 people in Gulf countries. The annual City RepTrak Study ranks the world’s 100 most reputable cities based on levels of trust, esteem, admiration and respect, as well as perceptions regarding 13 attributes, grouped into three dimensions – advanced economy, appealing environment and effective government. From rank 47th in the 2012 list, Dubai is now ahead of the popular cities of Brisbane, Cape Town, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. A spokesperson of the firm said, “People have images of a city on their mind when they are deciding to go on holiday there, to live or work there, or to buy products originated there. Our modeling demonstrates that a city that knows how to effectively manage its reputation can attract more tourists, greater investment or a bigger influx of talent”. On a scale of 100 as the highest point, Sydney of Australia who occupied the number 1 position got 77.4, followed by Toronto (76.9), Stockholm (76.9), Vienna (76.9) and Venice (75.8). “The results of our study also demonstrate that neither the number of inhabitants nor the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an essential factor in the construction of a good reputation. In fact, none of the cities in the top ten of the RepTrak Study appear in the top ten in all of the aforementioned variables,” the firm added.